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recouper

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Etymology and origin of the French word recouper

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 1150 Charroi de Nîmes More words from the 12th century
Ultimate origin
Latin colaphus
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Ancient Greek κόλπος (kólpos)
Latin colpus
French coup
French couper
French recouper
French gouffre
Italian colpo
The word's journey
From the same root
French beaucoup ← coup
French coupe ← couper
French coupé ← couper
French coupon ← couper
French engouffrer ← gouffre
Italian colpire ← colpo

Pronunciation

  • /ʁə.ku.pe/[1]

Forms

recouper[1] Old French recoper and recolper.[2][3]

Etymology

It is formed from French re- + couper.[4][5][6][1] couper is a derivative of coup, which goes back to Vulgar Latin *colpus, from colaphus (“a slap, a punch”).[7][8][9] Littré compares Walloon rikopé.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first record, in the Charroi de Nîmes of the mid-12th century, has the sense “to reduce, curtail”: Bien li a ore son vivre recopé (“he has now cut his living down well”).[4][2] Anglo-Norman texts of 1171–1174 use it for cutting back, cutting short or deducting.[3]

Semantic evolution

In Old French the verb meant to trim, cut short or take away: Guernes de Pont-Sainte-Maxence applies it to a garment in the 1170s.[4][6] The plain sense “to cut again” is first recorded by Robert Estienne in 1549,[4][8] and in Montaigne it could describe a jerky, broken style.[6] Like couper, it became a card-playing term, for cutting the pack a second time (1690),[8][10] and a wine trade term for blending a wine with a cut (1832).[4][8]

The figurative sense “to agree with and confirm” belongs to the 20th century;[8] the TLFi dates it to Barrès in 1908.[4] Lines or circles that cross are said to se recouper, and so are reports from different sources that tally.[10][11] The Anglo-Norman verb, meaning “to cut back, deduct”, is the source of the English legal word recoup (1620s).[12][3]

Timeline

  • c. 1150 – First recorded in the Charroi de Nîmes, as recoper “to reduce”.[4][2]
  • 1174–1176 – Guernes de Pont-Sainte-Maxence uses it for cutting a garment.[4]
  • 1225 – The deverbal noun recoupe “piece cut off” appears.[8]
  • 1549 – Robert Estienne records the sense “to cut again”.[4][8]
  • 1620s – English borrows the legal verb recoup “to deduct”.[12]
  • 1690 – Used of cutting the cards a second time.[8][10]
  • 1832 – Raymond records recouper des vins “to blend wines”.[4]
  • 1908 – Barrès uses it for checking facts against one another.[4]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To cut again; to cut another piece: recouper du fromage.[10][11][6]
  2. To recut a garment, changing its shape by taking off material.[10][5]
  3. (card games, intransitive) To cut the pack a second time.[10][13]
  4. (wine) To blend a wine with another.[10][6]
  5. To intersect a line, also se recouper “to cross each other”: deux routes qui se recoupent.[10][11]
  6. (figurative) To tally with and confirm: son récit recoupe celui du voisin.[10][11]

Word family

  • recoupage
  • recoupement
  • recoupe

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  3. ^ a b c Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  5. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  6. ^ a b c d e f Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  7. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  9. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2/ii, 872a
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  11. ^ a b c d Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
  12. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  13. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
Cite this entry

“Recouper.” Etymologically, 15 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/recouper. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·